The Demon Who Haunts the Theater
by evilalternateendingstorywriter
Summary: The theater is well cared for by the community. It is also a place where aspiring actors and actresses go to perform. And... did I mention that it's haunted?
1. The Haunting Begins

Hidey-heidy-howdy-ho! Basically, hi! This is my first Inu-Yasha fanfic, so flames are always welcome(in fact, the nastier you make them, the happier I'll be. Especially when it comes to grammar. Except in the author commentary; sometimes I misspell on purpose here, but not usually in my story.) Compliments are welcome as well.

This is a combination of "Phantom of the Opera" and Inu-Yasha. The basic idea of someone haunting a theater is from the prior; the characters are from the latter. This will probably end up being OCC and is definitely AU.

Oh, sorry Kikyo fans...she dies in the first chapter, and unlike the anime, she doesn't come back in a mix of ashes and grave-soil.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha or Phantom of the Opera.

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Chapter 1: The Haunting Begins

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The theater was the pride and joy of the town of just over fifty-thousand inhabitants. The whole community tried to keep it in the best shape possible, and the schools used it almost as often as the company.

Perhaps one of the biggest successes was Kikyo, the pride and joy of the theater. She was the rising star, the one who played the main female role in any opera or play. She was a great actress, and many people from nearby towns had come to see the young girl perform. From the age of sixteen, she had worked with the theater and performed. Now, three years later, she was retiring from the acting life to go to college.

Her successor, her younger sister Kaede, was almost as good as Kikyo herself. Kaede was preparing to take on the part of Margaritta in Faust. Kikyo had performed that part at her debut, and Kaede wanted to do the same.

Kaede was in her dressing room, preparing for her part. She sat at the vanity, applying make-up to her face.

"_Who are you?_" whispered a voice.

Kaede, startled, looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. Finding no one in the room with her, she turned back to her current task.

"_You are not Kikyo,_" whispered the voice, turning more malevolent.

"Who are you?" asked Kaede to the empty room. She was beginning to get spooked; she didn't like the idea of a theater that was haunted.

"_You will play Kikyo's role?_"

"My sister is leaving and the company needs a replacement," said Kaede, hiding her fear.

"_Kikyo is the only one who can play the part you seek to play._"

Kaede waited for a second. "Yes, my sister is better than I am, but I will try to do just as well. Whoever you are-"

"_LEAVE THE THEATER!_"

Kaede was shell-shocked. She sat, too stunned to move. She could've sworn she saw yellow eyes stare at her from the full-length mirror.

"Kaede?" came a soft voice.

Kaede jumped. Then, composing herself, she said, "Yes?"

Kikyo opened the door and came into the room. "Are you almost ready, little sister?"

Kaede nodded. As she followed Kikyo out from the dressing room, she glanced back at the mirror. She saw only the reflection of the room. Shaking her head, she headed to the stage.

The show was glorious and fantastic. Kaede was indeed spectacular, although not nearly as spectacular as Kikyo had always been. It was the beginning of the last act, and everyone in the stage crew was too enraptured by the performance to notice a shadow creeping along the ropes above the stage. He made no noise, creeping along, his presence lost to everyone.

What happened next would remain in the town's memory for years to come.

The figure used his claws to slice through several ropes, dropping unsuspecting members of the stage crew onto the stage fifty feet below. Then, he undid some of the riggings and the scenery fell onto the actors and corpses. Kaede was caught underneath the curtains. The crowd began to panic and race for the exits, some falling and getting trampled, others trying to preserve their lives. The lights went out, and a maniacal laughter rang throughout the theater.

Kikyo was on the stage, trying to help her sister and the other actors get out before the fire that had started to consume the curtains became a raging fire. Others began to help, some trying to contain the fire, others trying to get the wounded out.

Kikyo managed to get her sister outside, but she went inside. And didn't come out.

The next day, when firemen and nosy reporters and actors went into the theater to assess the damage, they found Kikyo's corpse, her eyes glazed over, limbs sprawled, and throat slit. No one ever knew who killed her; police suspected that whoever had sabotaged the theater had killed her.

The whole town mourned Kikyo's passing for almost a year. The theater lost half of its patrons, but still managed to stay running. Ever since, when something bad happened, like a curtain rope breaking or someone tripping over a bucket, the people say that the phantom has caused it.

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First chapter. Wha'dya think? Lame, I know. Actually, I had another story like this. In fact, I'm going to post it...eventually. Next chapter introduces Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and others.

And...random question that I know the answer to...Who's the phantom? Did he kill Kikyo?


	2. The Beginning

Well, chapter two! Thought I'd post two chapters at once, just to get the story rolling. So, welcome once again to you all. Reminder that this is my first Inu-Yasha fanfic, so flames of any type are welcome, as well as reviews of any kind.

Oh, and if you couldn't guess the last question, this chapter should make the answers pretty clear.

Disclaimer: We all know I don't own Inu-Yasha or Phantom of the Opera, so why do we still have to do these?

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Chapter 2: The Beginning

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_Seventy-six years later..._

"Kagome!"

A girl with black hair, brown eyes, and pale skin turned and saw someone running after her. "Sango! Hey!"

"Hey!" said a girl with long black hair in a ponytail and brown eyes once she had caught up to Kagome. "Thought you wouldn't get back until next week!"

"Grandpa managed to freak everyone out when he claimed an evil demon was in the hotel lobby, so we had to pack up early and leave. We got back yesterday, actually," said Kagome.

"Well, everyone's gonna be happy to see you! Miroku, Shippo, Kohaku, even Kirara has been annoying me to go and convince you to come back."

"Your CAT annoyed you?" asked Kagome, slightly stunned.

"Yup."

"Weird." Kagome continued to walk along the street. "So, school starts tomorrow."

"Yeah," said Sango wistfully. "Too bad, huh?"

Kagome shrugged. "I guess."

Sango snapped her fingers. "That reminds me. This weekend, Miroku's throwing a party at his place. Are you gonna come?"

"Sure," said Kagome. "What's with the party, though?"

"Something about a small get-together," muttered Sango. "Really, though, I have no idea."

"Who else is gonna come?"

"Well, there's Koga, Yura, Hojo, Kagura, Shinji, Kanna, Tsubaki, Shippo, Kohaku," named Sango off her head. "And...that's it...I think..."

"That's a lot of people."

"Yeah."

They continued to walk until the old theater was in sight. Although it had gone through some renovations a few years ago, it still looked old and dingy. The idea that something was haunting it scared so many people that business wasn't very good.

"Uh, Kagome?"

"Yeah?"

"Why're you heading towards the old theater?" asked Sango nervously.

"I wanted to explore it a little more," replied Kagome. "Besides, Kaede doesn't mind, as long as we don't break anything."

Sango huffed, but tailed her friend. They had been exploring the theater since they had learned that it was haunted. Miroku insisted that some sort of demon haunted it, while Kagome thought she'd find the remains of a human. Sango just hoped the rumors were just rumors.

Kaede was old, now nearly eighty, yet the old actress was very lively still. She was no longer actively running the stage productions, but she owned the theater, and therefore could still direct some of the play's productions. She liked Sango, Kagome and Miroku, so she let them explore the theater on the pretenses that they wouldn't interfere with any rehearsals and wouldn't break things.

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"Miroku, are you sure she doesn't suspect?" asked Hojo.

"I'm positive," said Miroku. "And even if she did, I'm sure she would love to be your girlfriend."

"Thank goodness," said Hojo, relieved. Kagome had been his long-time crush, but he could never bring himself to tell her about his feelings. Now, Miroku was going to give him the perfect opportunity.

Miroku smirked to himself. He loved to torture Hojo. He knew Kagome wasn't going to become Hojo's girlfriend. Kagome had told Miroku that she didn't like Hojo that way.

Koga, Kohaku, Shippo, Kagura, and Kanna showed up at about the same time. They mingled and talked about different things: Kagura and Shinji talked about their senior prank; Kohaku, Shippo, and Kanna were talking about what sort of havoc they could reek on their teachers; Koga and Hojo were talking about sports.

Kagome and Sango came in a few minutes later. Everyone greeted Kagome with great enthusiasm. Miroku kissed Sango on the cheek as a greeting, for which Sango promptly hit him. Sango liked Miroku and Miroku liked Sango, but Sango hadn't admitted openly that she liked Miroku yet.

They partied for a while, talking about random subjects and playing a few games. An hour and a half later, Kagome was walking home. She had had a fun time, but she now just wanted to go home and surf the web or read a good book.

She was deciding what to read when she looked up and noticed where she was. Instead of taking the way home, Kagome had ended up at the theater.

'_Why not?' _she thought and walked inside.

As usual, the lobby to the theater was dark. Kagome went to the auditorium and walked onto the stage. Finding no one to be present, she began to twirl around the stage and sing a little bit.

Unbeknownst to Kagome, a shadow heard her and wandered close enough to hear her sing. She had a voice that could've rivaled Kikyo's easily, but it was untrained. He watched her twirl and spin, watching her movements correspond with the beat to the song.

Kagome finished her song and stopped twirling, slightly embarrassed even though she thought no one was around. She moved to get off the stage.

"_Brava, brava."_

Kagome whirled around, but found no one there. She turned back around and was near the exit of the auditorium when she heard the voice again.

"_I shall see you again."_

Kagome bolted out the door.

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He hadn't heard a voice like that in a long time. Lots of actresses and sopranos had come to this theater to perform, but none had quite as lovely a voice as that girl had. In fact, most of them had been horrible enough that it hurt his ears. The few females who had actually been pleasant to hear only performed a couple of times each, leaving the worse ones to take their places.

Seventy-six years ago, he had destroyed the theater because a single actress was leaving. He would do the same again, but this time it would be because he wanted the actress to perform.

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So, R&R, flames welcome, blahdy, blah, blah, blah, and all that good stuff. I think I'll try to get three chapters posted for this fanfic.

Hope it isn't too bad, but I think this story is gonna go downhill fast; this chapter was pretty lame, but then again, the middle of the story was what I thought up; I just have to scrape up an adequate beginning, so suggestions, people!


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